Echoplex used with a band

["T.W. Hartnett" <hartnett.t@apple.com>]

I saw an Austin-based band this weekend, "aka Nico".  Drums, percussion, 
trumpet and amplified nylon-string guitar.  The singer/guitarist had an 
Echoplex in the loop of his Gibson Lab Series amp, and would use it to 
create loops on the fly, typically some rhythmic riff which would 
continue all though the song while the rest of the band played over it.  
Sometimes at the end of a tune, he'd set up a new loop and then solo and 
overdub over the loop for a few minutes.  I thought it worked quite well, 
although I heard that he was dissatisfied with the frequency response of 
the Echoplex (which seems a little weird, but I didn't have a chance to 
speak to him personally).   

A bass-playing friend of mine did have a chance to speak to him, and they 
were of the opinion that the Echoplex worked in this context because he 
was the only chordal instrument (the trumpet player just played solos or 
fills), there wasn't another guitar, keyboard, or bass to compete for 
space, and everyone could clearly hear the guitar (he had his open-backed 
combo amp up high, and everyone was near enough to hear).  It was some 
neat stuff, sort of a Dave Matthews/mid-period Van Morrison type outfit.

Travis Hartnett